Fire Chief Denis McCarthy has served in the Connecticut Fire Service for over 37 years. Chief McCarthy brings a wealth of experience to the position. He is a progressive and energetic public servant who anticipates the changing demands in the public safety environment. Denis credits his achievements to working collaboratively within the Fire Department, with partners from other municipal departments, in the private sector as well as with citizen and community groups.

Chief McCarthy values an honest, transparent and credible decision- making process. He recognizes the importance of public safety and the role of the Fire Department and Emergency Management on the health and stability of a community. The Chief encourages the contributions of every member of his team and appreciates the impact each member can have to better inform the decisions, programs and projects of the department.

For the past ten years, McCarthy served as Chief of Department in Norwalk Ct. In his role as Fire Chief and Emergency Management Director, he updated the professional standards of the staff, created a fire rescue marine unit, led the construction of a $15 million, state of the art Fire Headquarters and Emergency Operations Center. This LEED Gold facility was built on time and on budget.

Always a community leader, Chief McCarthy spearheaded the development of a school safety plan for the public school system as well as the safety plan for City Hall. In his role as Emergency Management Director, he ran a number of disaster exercises for the community and the region including a full scale Metro- North Disaster Exercise. In 2006, Chief McCarthy was recognized as the Connecticut Emergency Manager of the Year. Under his leadership, the Norwalk’s Emergency Management team has grown into a collaborative team that responded to Sandy, Irene and other storms. Prior to his service in Norwalk Chief McCarthy served 27 years in the Westport Fire Department completing his service there as Fire Chief.

Beyond local service, Chief McCarthy was selected for Governor Malloy’s ‘Sandy Hook Advisory Commission’ as well as the Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection Advisory Board. He is a past president of the Connecticut Career Fire Chief’s Association, the Coastal Fire Chief’s Association and has served as Chair of the Department of Emergency Management and Homeland Security Regional Emergency Planning Team. He is also a member of the Board of Directors of the Human Services Council in Norwalk serving as 1st Vice President.

Denis is a 37 year resident of Fairfield. He looks forward to bringing his expertise to his hometown.

Chief Dunn started his fire service career with the Yonkers, NY Fire Department in 1981, was promoted to Lieutenant in 1986, Captain in 1993 and Assistant Chief in 1999. He holds a B.A. degree from Fordham University, a B.S. (Fire Administration) from the State University of New York and a J.D. from Pace University.

In Yonkers, Chief Dunn had been assigned to E305, E306, SQ1, L74 and commanded Fire Station 6 and Battalion 2. He also served as Chief of Staff and Acting Chief of Operations. He was the Department’s Liaison for Information Technology for over a decade and administered its Records Management System. He instructed Probationary Firefighter Classes, Hazardous Materials Courses and Officer Training courses for the Department and authored several of the Department's Standard Operating Guidelines. He has been a NY State EMT-D since 1988.

Chief Dunn has been a member of APCO's Data Transfer Committee and served from 1997 to 2004 as an Adjunct in SUNY Empire State College's Fire Administration Program. He holds a Class 1 Award, a Class B award, several unit citations and Letters of Commendation and has received the Exchange Club Firefighter of the Year twice.

Chief Dunn’s grandfather and father were Yonkers Firefighters and his son and his brother are currently members of the Department.